The wheelchair wheel covers are journaled on a fixed axle, may be stationary or rotate with a wheel, and provide protection for the hand that rotates a wheel.
Wheelchairs are available in a variety of sizes and shapes. Racing wheelchairs, for example, are lightweight and their driven wheels are towed in at the top to make it easier to manually rotate both wheel simultaneously. Non-racing wheelchairs generally have both large wheels journaled for rotation about a common axis.
The large diameter manually rotated wheels of wheelchairs usually have a bolt on each side that connects a wheel to the frame. These bolts generally clamp an inner bearing race to the frame of the wheelchair and hold the inner race in a fixed non-rotating position.
Each wheel of a wheelchair can be journaled on an axle by a bushing, a roller bearing, a ball bearing or a pair of ball bearings. A pair of ball bearings is generally the preferred bearing arrangement for high quality wheelchairs. The inner races of these bearings can be mounted on a common sleeve or they can be mounted directly on an axle shaft and separated by a spacer to reduce axial loading on the balls of the ball bearings. A bolt normally clamps the common sleeve of each wheel or the inner races of each bearing to the wheelchair frame and hold the inner bearing races in fixed positions relative to the wheelchair frame. The outer race or races of bearings are received in a wheel hub and rotate with the hub and the wheel secured to the hub.
Wheel covers have been mounted on the wheels of all kinds of vehicles. Some wheel covers are primarily for appearance while other wheel covers are functional. A few wheel covers are decorative and functional. Most wheel covers rotate with the wheel they are mounted upon. Wheel covers are known however that do not rotate with the wheel. The non-rotating wheel covers are generally clamped to a non-rotating axle and held in place by friction. Wheel covers that rotate are generally mounted on a wheel and rotate with the wheel.
The wheelchair wheel cover is journaled on an outboard end of a non-rotating bolt. A wheel bearing is mounted on the bolt. A nut on an inboard end of the bolt clamps an inner wheel bearing race to the wheelchair frame. The non-cylindrical head of the bolt may be received in a non-cylindrical passage in the wheel cover to prevent rotation of the wheel cover relative to the bolt when the wheel cover is non-rotatable. If the wheel cover is to rotate, the head of the bolt is received in a cylindrical bore in the wheel cover. A thrust bearing is provided between the head of the bolt and the wheel cover to reduce friction and to permit the wheel cover to rotate relative to the bolt. A finger extending axially inward from the wheel cover engages a wheel spoke and rotates the wheel cover with the wheel. A cylindrical flange on the outer edge of the wheel cover extends axially into a manual wheel drive ring. The cylindrical flange directs a person""s fingers into the space between the wheel drive ring and the cylindrical flange. The portions of the wheel cover that extend axially outboard of the wheel drive ring protect a person""s hands from walls, the doorframes at the side of doorways and other obstructions. The outboard portions of the wheel covers also protect walls and doorframes from the outboard ends of wheelchair axles and wheel hubs.